iPhone SE Reviews: High-End Performance With Budget-Friendly Price

First impressions and reviews of the new iPhone SE are now out, with many praising the device's flagship performance at a budget-friendly price.

The second-generation iPhone SE has a similar design as the iPhone 8, including a 4.7-inch display and a Touch ID home button, but it takes a big leap forward in performance. Despite starting at just $399, the device is powered by the latest-and-greatest A13 Bionic chip, the same processor found inside the high-end iPhone 11 Pro.

iphone se 2020 red
The Verge's Dieter Bohn:

If I were buying the iPhone SE, I'd seriously consider spending the extra $50 to upgrade the storage to 128GB, just in case I'd want it three or five years down the road. That timespan is the reason the iPhone SE is a big deal. No other phone that costs less than $500 can claim to be this good, nor last that long.

The iPhone SE is not just a good deal. It's also a really good smartphone.

The new iPhone SE can be pre-ordered on Apple.com in the United States and more than 40 other countries and regions. Pricing starts at $399 for 64GB of storage, with 128GB and 256GB options available for $449 and $549 respectively. The first deliveries to customers and in-store availability at select resellers will begin Friday, April 24.

Reviews

Video Reviews and Unboxings










With the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus now discontinued, the lower end of Apple's smartphone lineup now includes the new iPhone SE and the iPhone XR, released in October 2018. Thinking about upgrading? Read our comparison of the devices.

Tag: Reviews
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...

Top Rated Comments

nameischarles Avatar
72 months ago
I really thought my mum would have wanted this as her iPhone 6S is slowly dying and she never really wanted to get rid of it for so long.

I told her I'll upgrade her to the new SE and she told me she didn't want the same boring looking phone again haha she wanted the newer fancy looking iPhone 11 Pro. So I upgraded her to the iPhone 11 Pro today.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
72 months ago
Apple might just have hit the nail on the head with the new Iphone SE.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Justanotherfanboy Avatar
72 months ago

Think this. Apple tried hard from iPhone 4-8 to keep iPhone look symmetrical especially front. Than Apple let go symmetry concept when introduced iPhone X with top notch and nothing similar at bottom.
So, Apple could have increased the screen towards top side giving more screen in the same iPhone 8 size frame by reducing thick top bezel like most android phones top part of screen. Bottom could not be reduced because of beloved Touch ID. This could have given 2020 SE new identity. Wasn't that difficult.
Think this.
Apple is only able to offer a phone this crazy cheap every 3-4 years or so by reusing EVERY SINGLE part that they possibly can, that’s already been in production for years & they have reached economies of scale with.... processor from the latest 2 phones, casings they’ve been making for many years now, etc.
The reason this phone can be cheaper whilst maintaining a profit margin is because there’s very little r&d to recoup, no new manufacturing techniques to work wrinkles out of, etc.
You're talking about new design, new tech, more r&d, etc...
What isn’t that difficult is seeing why they went their route, not yours.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dubar Avatar
72 months ago
I think I might be able to convince the wife to get rid of her Android. She's only slightly jealous of me being able to control the Apple TV from my phone.

Crosses fingers
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pearple Avatar
72 months ago
I would like to share my detailed comprehensive review of the new iPhone SE with all the folks at Mac rumors.

Here it is:












WAY

















TOO






















BIG!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
willyx Avatar
72 months ago

This will be a big hit for a lot of people.

But I can’t help think that they could’ve made a phone with a 4.7” edge-to-edge screen with a smaller footprint than the first iPhone SE. The first iPhone SE measured about 5.4” diagonally, so if you take any bezel space into account you could squeeze a 5 inch screen in there.

Wait a minute, it all makes sense. There’s a 5.4” iPhone that’s rumored in the fall. That’ll be the high end compact version.
For the 100th time. The WHOLE POINT of this device is to reuse an old iPhone case, for which there is already an amortised logistic chain in place, to make it CHEAP by Apple standards. So no, there is no way they would have changed the design for the iPhone SE to accommodate a larger screen or anything else that does not fit the iPhone 8/7/6s/6 chassis.

Enough of these kind of comments, seriously.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)